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Journal of Bacteriology, January 2006, p. 275-286, Vol. 188, No. 1
0021-9193/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.188.1.275-286.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Polymorphisms in the Nine Polymorphic Membrane Proteins of Chlamydia trachomatis across All Serovars: Evidence for Serovar Da Recombination and Correlation with Tissue Tropism{dagger}

João P. Gomes,1,2 Alexandra Nunes,2 William J. Bruno,3 Maria J. Borrego,2 Carlos Florindo,2 and Deborah Dean1,4*

Center for Immunobiology and Vaccine Research, Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, 5700 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland, California 94609,1 Centro de Bacteriologia, Instituto Nacional de Saúde, Av. Padre Cruz, 1649-016 Lisboa, Portugal,2 T-10 Theoretical Biology and Biophysics, MS-K710 Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545,3 University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California 941434

Received 25 July 2005/ Accepted 6 October 2005

Chlamydia trachomatis is an intracellular bacterium responsible for ocular, respiratory, and sexually transmitted diseases. The genome contains a nine-member polymorphic membrane protein (Pmp) family unique to members of the order Chlamydiales. Genomic and molecular analyses were performed for the entire pmp gene family for the 18 reference serological variants (serovars) and genovariant Ja to identify specific gene and protein regions that differentiate chlamydial disease groups. The mean genetic distance among all serovars varied from 0.1% for pmpA to 7.0% for pmpF. Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) serovars were the most closely related for the pmp genes and were also the most divergent, compared to ocular and non-LGV urogenital disease groups. Phylogenetic reconstructions showed that for six of nine pmp genes (not pmpA, pmpD, or pmpE), the serovars clustered based on tissue tropism. The most globally successful serovars, E and F, clustered distantly from the urogenital group for five pmp genes. These pmp genes may confer a biologic advantage that may facilitate infection and transmission for E and F. Surprisingly, serovar Da clustered with the ocular group from pmpE to pmpI, which are located together in the chromosome, providing statistically significant evidence for intergenomic recombination and acquisition of a genetic composition that could hypothetically expand the host cell range of serovar Da. We also identified distinct domains for pmpE, pmpF, and pmpH where substitutions were concentrated and associated with a specific disease group. Thus, our data suggest a possible structural or functional role that may vary among pmp genes in promoting antigenic polymorphisms and/or diverse adhesions-receptors that may be involved in immune evasion and differential tissue tropism.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, 5700 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland, CA 94609. Phone: (510) 450-7655. Fax: (510) 450-7910. E-mail: ddean{at}chori.org.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://jb.asm.org/.

Journal of Bacteriology, January 2006, p. 275-286, Vol. 188, No. 1
0021-9193/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.188.1.275-286.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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